Cincinnati Vs. Tulsa: Live Stream, AAC Championship Game Start time, prediction, choice, odds, line, spread

Many critics of the college’s football playoffs and its selection committee’s rankings were not exactly happy after Cincinnati’s No. 9 dropped a spot on Tuesday from his standings a week earlier, despite not playing the previous Saturday.

The regular season finale of the Bearcats against No. 23 Tulsa was canceled due to COVID-19 problems. The two teams avoided playing back in the weeks and turned their attention to the American Athletic Conference Championship Game, set for Saturday night at Nippert Stadium. The committee moved the undefeated Bearcats to one place while Iowa, which has two losses this season, grew by one place. Cincinnati saw the same adjustment in the top 10 of the standings as Florida, which lost at home to LSU as the 24-point favorite. With three teams with two losses separating Cincinnati from 5th place, the outrage focused exclusively on why the Bearcats were penalized and whether it was possible for a Group of Five team to ever reach the top four.

That outrage in the playoffs will be the background on Saturday, but will not be the focus inside any locker room. This is because Luke Fickell played in Cincinnati one of his seasons in the program’s history and allowing a playoff conversation not to focus on finishing with a championship would be a serious disappointment.

These two have been fairly equal in their history against each other. Tulsa has a slim lead in the 17-15-2 series, but the two programs have only played three times this decade. The Bearcats pulled off a 24-13 victory in 2019 after the Golden Hurricane eliminated them 40-37 in 2016.

So, while the playoff scandal will surround the edges of this game, the action at Nippert Stadium will focus exclusively on completing one of the best seasons in the history of the program with a conference championship for the trophy case.

Stories

Cincinnati: A common thread in these three successful seasons for Cincinnati has been a dominant defense. Bearcats ranks 4th nationally in defending the score with 15.0 points allowed per game, 2nd in defense with passing efficiency and 10th in total defense. Also, that unit currently has the longest active series in FBS, with a forced turnover in 18 consecutive games and has done an excellent job of closing the games with just 18 points from the fourth quarter allowed in the last five combined games. . But a huge step was taken in 2020 by defender Desmond Ridder and, as a result, the Bearcats offense as a whole. Ridder was named the U.S. Athletics Conference offensive player of the year after totaling 27 touchdowns (16 passes, 11 rushing), including a five-game stretch that saw him throw for 1,224 yards with 10 touchdowns and he hurried for 455 meters with 11 touchdowns. According to Cincinnati, the last FBS player to reach these scores over a five-game period was Lamar Jackson during his 2016 Heisman Trophy winning season.

Tulsa: For all the discussions about Cincinnati’s defense, credit must be given for the way the defense helped propel Tulsa in this title game. Golden Hurricane is second in AAC in both scoring and total defense, behind Cincinnati and comes at a unique time for Phillip Montgomery here in his sixth year as head coach. Montgomery arrived after a successful period as offensive coordinator at Baylor and the best season before him (a score of 10-3 in 2016) saw the team score at least 30 points in each game, except for a loss in front. Ohio State. The 2016 season was also the last time Tulsa reached a home game, which contributed to the team being ranked 9th by AAC media in the pre-season poll. Not only did this stellar defense help eliminate UCF, SMU, Navy and Tulane – all teams ranked Tulsa in that pre-season poll – but it produced one of Zaven Collins’ top college football stars. . In seven action games, Collins totaled 51 approaches, 11.5 loss approaches, four sacks, four interceptions, two interception touchdowns, a forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one safety. He is a great player who acts in key moments, with two of the four interceptions serving as games that play or win the game.

Viewing information

Event: AAC Championship Game
Date
: Saturday, December 19 | Time8 pm ET
Location: Nippert Stadium – Cincinnati, Ohio
TV: ABC | Live broadcast: fuboTV (Try for free)

Cincinnati Vs. Tulsa prediction, choices

Latest odds:

Cincinnati Bearcats -13.5

Cincinnati has won 19 consecutive games at Nippert Stadium and I don’t think that series ends here, with the title of the Six-Year American Athletic Conference and on the line. However, this number is a little too high for a game between two strong defensive teams. Tulsa might need a turnover or two to get points, but I think the Golden Hurricane can reach 10 or 14 and cover that number. Choose: Tulsa +14.5

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